Page 212 of The Unwilling Bride
The person who put this sad look on her face is going to pay. If something like this had happened before she walked back into my life, the restaurant and my business would be all that I’d have to worry about. But my priorities have changed. And she’s at the top of my list.
Who knew I’d fall in love so quickly? Who knew I’d been in love with her all this time—perhaps from the moment I first saw her five years ago? I may have walked away from her, but I carried her in my heart. I simply didn't acknowledge it.
“I’m going to take down whoever did this. Also, fuck the investors."
"What?" She gapes at me. "If they pull their money?—"
"I’ll use my inheritance to plug the gaps.” I tighten my hold around her. "I don’t need them. I can buy them out." I incline my head, watching the play of light on her face. "I want you to be my partner in this venture."
60
Harper
I stare. "You want me to be a partner in your restaurant business?"
"You’re already my wife. And my sous chef. You get a share of the profits from the business. It makes sense that you’re my partner."
He must be joking. But James never jokes when it comes to his business. He looks and sounds very serious.
"Our marriage is not real."
"What happened up there in my bedroom seemed very real to me.” His face hardens.
So, he noticed it, too. But I’m also befuddled by the events of the past few seconds. There’s a video out there, with a stranger claiming to know the reason why we got married.
Clearly, he did it for revenge, but it’s disconcerting that my private life is all over the internet.
What are my sister and niece going to say when they find out? And my friends? My blood pressure begins to skyrocket.
"It doesn’t negate the fact that I signed that agreement. And that everyone knows about the true state of our marriage now."
A trembling grips me.
What must the rest of the brigade think of me? Have I lost my credibility completely because of this?
Unable to meet his gaze, I look away.
He notches his knuckles under my chin. "I'll handle the team. As for the rest of the world? They'll forget us the second the next scandal drops."
His touch is gentle. But his words open up a fresh wound in my chest.
"Is that what we are now? A scandal."
I pull away, and he releases me.
And I miss his warmth. And that pisses me off. I’m in love with him. But it feels one-sided.
His forehead furrows. "That’s not what I meant."
"I know." I deflate a little. "It’s not just the shock of having our personal lives out in the open. It’s the fact that we started out that way that hurts me."
It’s the fact that the video makes it look like we betrayed the entire world, and that has shaken me.
He rubs the back of his neck. "I’m not going to apologize for suggesting the arrangement. If it weren't for that, we would never have come together."
"How do you know that?" I step back into the stool, trying to put more space between us. "Maybe we could have owned up to that video. Apologized. Maybe the investors would have accepted it, and we could have just?—"
My throat closes.
